The 27-year-old striker was Forest’s first choice up-front during the last two seasons, but has lost his place in the starting lineup to New Zealand forward, Chris Wood.

Wood’s impressive form and Awoniyi’s constant injuries has seen the Nigerian struggle for minutes this season. The former Mainz 05 forward has played just 170 minutes across nine Premier League games this season, scoring no goals.

Quizzed about why Awoniyi has been second choice this season, Nottingham boss mentioned Awoniyi was on a steady journey towards full fitness until he got a call-up to play for Nigeria in October.

“It’s his fitness, his confidence and he is looking for his goal. Everything changes in the mindset of a striker when you score; suddenly everything comes. We are waiting for this click. We trust him.

What we have been trying with Taiwo is to increase his game time. Unfortunately, if I look back, going into the previous (October) international break, he played and then immediately went with his national team and played five minutes. That was a step back.

We had him for all of the last international break and he was able to play 60 minutes in a very hard game (against Arsenal). It was a very physical game against tough centre halves, and he did very well.

We will try to keep progressing on that aspect with T, because we need all the players. T and Chris are the specific strikers that we have,” Nuno Espirito Santo said in quotes revealed by Nottingham Post.

Forest sealed a narrow 1-0 win over Ipswich Town yesterday as they continue to press into the Premier League top-six, with the hope of securing European competition spots when the season ends.

Xhaka has rejuvenated his career since joining Xabi Alonso’s side in the summer of 2023 and quickly became a crucial player for Die Werkself, helping them to the Bundesliga and DFB Pokal titles whilst the team remained unbeaten.

On and off the pitch, Xhaka and Boniface have developed a brilliant relationship, with the former Arsenal captain seen bowing before Boniface’s grandmother last season, a notable sign of respect between Africans.

Speaking after Leverkusen’s 5-0 win against RB Salzburg, Xhaka spoke about Boniface’s potential and backed the ex-Union Saint-Gilloise striker to come good when playing for the Super Eagles in the future.

“It’s always difficult because you don’t have a lot of time to adapt, enough time to work through the tactical setup everyday with the same coach, and same players, but, everyone wants to play for their country.

“He’s important for us(Leverkusen), and for sure, he’ll be important for Nigeria in the future and I’ll say stay calm because he’s a great guy and a great footballer.

“He will give a lot to make the people happy for sure,” the former Arsenal captain told OmaSports TV.

Boniface’s form with the Super Eagles has been poor, as the 23-year-old has scored just once in eleven outings for Nigeria.

The 23-year-old debuted for Nigeria in September 2023 after a brilliant start to life with Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the Bundesliga. However, life in the national team hasn’t gone according to plan for Boniface.

In eleven appearances for the three-time AFCON winners, the former Union Saint-Gilloise forward has found the back of the net just once, and the Nigerian populace are increasingly becoming frustrated with the striker’s lack of impact, especially after Nigeria’s AFCON 2025 qualifying games against the Republic of Benin and Rwanda.

Okpala has leapt to Boniface’s defence, urging for patience from the Nigerian football fans to allow Boniface to flourish in attack.

“Osimhen comes in and scores. When Osimhen isn’t there, Boniface doesn’t score. He needs to be talked to, given a lot of confidence, and reminded that as a center forward, his primary role is to score. If he can’t score, then he should start providing assists.

He shouldn’t be too anxious to score in every game. Yes, scoring is crucial, but he needs to stay calm. When you count one, you can get to two.

Once he starts scoring, the confidence will return. It’s normal. Bayer Leverkusen is different from the national team,” the 63-year-old said in an interview with Brila.

In the meantime, Boniface is out of action for club and country due to a thigh injury he picked up while on international duty.

In his fourth spell in charge of the Super Eagles, Eguavoen has qualified Nigeria for the AFCON 2025 tournament, but the final two qualifying games were far from impressive.

The Interim manager blamed the loss against Rwanda on the team’s lack of a creative midfielder, revealing they’re still searching for a player who can cut through opposition lines from the middle of the park.

Despite sealing qualification, many have criticized Eguavoen’s team for taking their foot off the gas during games, and Udi echoed the same sentiments.

“In football, if a coach is given five years, it all boils down to the results of the 3-5 games he plays. That ‘five years’ is only on paper. Behind the scenes, it might not even last three weeks.

AS Roma have changed two coaches this season because of results. The fans have every right to voice their opinions. If you are a coach and don’t want to be criticized, then deliver results. When the team performs well, everyone shares the glory.

In coaching, once the team is not doing well, the bulk of the blame falls on the head coach. There is no permanent job in this field—it’s all temporary. What makes your job permanent is consistent results.

If we look at Eguavoen’s results, they are fair. But if we look at the performances of the players and as a team, we are not playing anything. In the last game, we couldn’t even make six consecutive passes,” the 48-year-old said in an interview with Brila.

Eguavoen has urged Nigerians to be patient with the Super Eagles, as it takes time to integrate players due to the little time they have to train during International breaks.

The 23-year-old featured in both of Nigeria’s games in the just-concluded International break, in the loss against Rwanda and the draw against the Republic of Benin.

According to Buli News, Boniface has returned to Germany, but he missed the team’s training yesterday. The report claims the former Union Saint-Gilloise forward injured his thigh during the international break and could potentially spend a huge while on the sidelines, ranging from weeks to three months.

Die Werkself are yet to put out an official statement about the injury situation of the 2023/2024 Bundesliga rookie of the year award winner, but it is highly anticipated that Xabi Alonso will touch on the topic in his pre-game conference ahead of their clash at home against FC Heidenheim.

Should Boniface miss the game against Heidenheim, Czech striker, Patrik Schick, will be called into the starting lineup to replace the Nigerian who has scored six goals and provided one assist in ten Bundesliga games this season.

The 6ft3in forward picked up an adductor injury in his right thigh earlier this year, which saw him miss Nigeria’s AFCON 2023 campaign, and a huge chunk of the crucial parts of Leverkusen’s season, but he returned in the nick of time to guide Xabi Alonso’s team to an unbeaten league title triumph.

The club will be hoping his injury is not a recurrence.

The three-time AFCON Champions had already sealed qualification to the AFCON 2025 tournament in Morocco following a draw against the Republic of Benin, leaving the game against Rwanda as an obligation to fulfill.

Eguavoen fielded a slightly weaker team against the Wasps of Rwanda and his side took the lead in the 59th minute via Samuel Chukwueze. A quick-fire double from Ange Mutsinzi and Innocent Nshuti turned the game on its head in  favour of Thorsten Spittler’s side.

Speaking in an interview with Brila.net, Iloenyosi emphasized that Eguavoen wasn’t at fault for Nigeria’s defeat.

“Eguavoen has never been part of the problem. Even if you bring in someone like Mourinho to coach Nigeria, the team still lacks character.

The pattern we played ( against Rwanda ), the boys didn’t position themselves well, no passion and character in the national team.

Losing the game is not Eguavoen fault. Even if you bring in another coach, they will still lose that game,” the former Asteras Tripoli man said.

Rwanda sealed their first-ever win against the Super Eagles of Nigeria on Monday. Both sides will meet during the March International break as they look to seal qualification to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Rwanda are currently top of the qualification group with seven points while Nigeria have just three points from four games.

The 28-year-old has not gotten started with Sevilla or the Super Eagles this season, struggling for goal involvements. In the last year, the former Manchester City forward has scored just three goals.

Iheanacho started both of Nigeria’s games in the just-concluded International break, albeit out of position. He was withdrawn at half-time during both games, leading to further scrutiny about his lacklustre performances.

In response, the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup winner has revealed it’s been a tough situation to be in for him, but vowed to turn it all around.

“In general, football is not easy. Probably everyone will say that it is easy. Maybe they think that because everything is related to football.

Obviously, the way we play makes it look easy, but it is not, because there is a lot of hard work to do, both in training and in matches.

When you are not at your best, at your peak, then it looks very hard. And that is when people think that it is a difficult match, and in part it is,” the former Leicester City striker said in quotes revealed by Eldes Marque.

Nonetheless, the Sevilla man mentioned he’s  looking forward to playing another AFCON tournament with the Super Eagles of Nigeria, aiming for a gold medal after claiming second in Ivory Coast earlier this year.

“We faced Benin and managed to qualify, but they are really difficult matches. We are happy with the way we performed and managed to qualify.

I hope we have the opportunity to play another African Cup of Nations and reach the final to win it. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication, because there are also other teams who want to qualify and go to Morocco next year. It was very difficult, but the team has a lot of qualities and everything went in our favour,” the Sevilla man concluded.

Iheanacho will be eyeing his debut La Liga goal when Sevilla take on Rayo Vallecano at Estadio Ràmon Sanchez Pizjuàn on Sunday.

While Eguavoen fielded a slightly weaker team against the Wasps of Rwanda, it was the Super Eagles that took the lead at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium through Samuel Chukwueze in the 59th minute.

Jimmy Mutsinzi and Innocent Nshuti found the back of the net about fifteen minutes after Nigeria broke the deadlock, sealing a first win over the Super Eagles for the East Africans and this thrilled Spittler.

“I’m happy because we came, we saw, we conquered. It’s almost seen as an impossibility for any team to beat the Super Eagles, with some of Africa’s best footballers, on their home soil.

Check the FIFA rankings! The Super Eagles are ranked around 30th, while we, Rwanda, are somewhere in the 160s. That’s a huge gap. Yet, we stood our ground and achieved this feat. It’s a big plus for us, and I’m proud of the players,” the German gaffer said in his post-game conference.

Spittler and Eguavoen will lock horns during the next International break as the Super Eagles are in dire need of a run of good results to seal a spot in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Nigeria are currently winless from their World Cup qualifiers so far, drawing three and losing one. Rwanda lead the group with seven points from four games.

The 23-year-old forward has been an attacking gift for Die Werkself since joining in the summer of 2023, winning the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and the DFL Super Cup in his first eighteen months in Germany.

Despite his success for Leverkusen, Boniface has struggled to impress for the Nigerian national team. In Nigeria’s dead-rubber AFCON qualifier against Rwanda, Boniface started up-front but had an awful game, mustering just a shot on target in ninety minutes as the Super Eagles lost yesterday.

This sparked reactions amongst fans, with many calling for his exclusion from the national team till he sort himself out, but Eguavoen has clarified the situation with the former Union Saint-Gilloise forward.

“Boniface, we all know what he’s capable of doing, especially for his club and when he comes back here, we try to give him a lot of confidence and playing time but he’s not hitting the back of the net for whatever reason.

I’ve spoken to him personally many times. I’m someone who wants to give players confidence.

I’ve done enough, but he’s still part of the squad and will remain a part of the squad,” Eguavoen told the press after Nigeria’s game against Rwanda yesterday evening.

Nigeria will play against Rwanda during the next International break as they look to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Samuel Chukwueze came off the bench to break the deadlock in the second half before a quick-fire double from Innocent Nshuti and Ange Mutsinzi turned the game in Rwanda’s favour.

Soccernet.ng takes a look at five talking points from Nigeria’s sloppy performance in Uyo this evening.

1. Maduka Okoye started his first Super Eagles game in three years.

The Udinese goalkeeper was between the sticks following Stanley Nwabali’s exit from the Super Eagles camp. While he’d have loved to have kept a clean sheet on his return, the 25-year-old could have done better for both of Rwanda’s goals.

2. Iheanacho flops out of position, again.

The Sevilla striker started on the right against the Republic of Benin last week, and Eguavoen fielded the former Leicester City man in the same position today.

Seniorman was withdrawn at half-time on both occasions, failing to muster anything meaningful in his time on the pitch.

3. Chukwueze rekindles bright spark.

The AC Milan winger has always blown hot and cold for club and country and is notable for his inconsistent performances. Nonetheless, he was brilliant off the bench today and capped his display off with a goal.

4. Nigeria’s World Cup hopes dwindles.

While Eguavoen fielded a slightly weaker team against Rwanda, Nigeria were far from convincing.

They will face the same opponent in March during the World Cup qualifiers, and with the Super Eagles in dire need of positive results, they will need to step up their game if they want to play in football’s biggest tournament in 2026.

5. Boniface still cannot get going for Nigeria.

For all of his exploits with Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, Victor Boniface has struggled to impress for the Super Eagles, and his woes in front of goal continued today. He completed just thirteen passes in 90 minutes and had a shot on target.